Mini Golf

Tonight, I was to be back for the first time in months to Watkin's Bookshop, for an author talk: this is Pagans by Ethan Doyle White. However, The Hideout has a new group - London Hot 100 Socials, Music & More. So I headed off with them for a game of mini golf! At Westfield, where I haven't been in almost 10 years.. Well, I like The Hideout, so..

Oh, what a very long way away Westfield is. And I left later than intended - I just have so much to do.. So, it was bus, followed by Tube. Mercifully, I was on the Circle Line, which is excellently air-conditioned. Saw the Puttshack, where we were to meet, from the train - needed something to eat/drink first though, and since I was still early for the event, took myself off to Pret. Where they didn't have the sandwiches I like.. in fact, they had very little. I had an apple juice, gulped it in one. Then thought I might as well head to Puttshack.

Oh, what a lot of stairs..

I was the first of the group to arrive - got myself a drink, took a seat, messaged to say I was there. And when the organiser arrived, we moved over to the reserved table. Have to say, I spent a lot of time looking for non-existent food menus.. O well. Again, our too-generous organiser replenished my glass of wine. We waited for people to arrive, and off we went to book our slot.

I cannot fault the tech in this place. The booking system is practically idiot-proof - enter the number of team members, a first name for each, and the system allows you to split the payment - equally, or bespoke. Pay by card. And you get on the board, which tells you when you're ready - someone else was keeping track of that, so I don't know for sure, but I imagine the board also tells you which of the two (colour-coded) routes you're to go down. Nine holes each.

You first go to the station where the putters are kept - the black ones seem longer, so I had one of those - and tap your name on the display, from the team names shown, to have your specially assigned ball. This is actually really clever - when you put the ball on the tee, it knows which player you are, so knows who's getting what score, without you having to play in a particular order. It won't let you start, though, until the previous player has got the ball in the hole. You'll know you're good to go when the lights around the tee flash green.

Arrows on the floor map a path - the holes are also numbered. Now, it's not impossible to get the ball where it's supposed to go - but it can be difficult! Hitting a hazard means you drop points, there are also "SuperTube" bonuses. One of the highlights was the hole where you're asked a question on screen, and have a choice of whether to send the ball through True or False! Happily, I got my question right. Unhappily, I still ended up with the lowest score of the team - which had some very high scorers. An overall leaderboard tracks everyone's score..

Yeah, I didn't disgrace myself though - but by the time I got out of there, I was feeling quite faint. They have water on the bar - I drank a couple of glasses of that, and with sitting down as well, and the sudden appearance of food menus, I felt much better. I suppose they only serve food towards the latter end of the night..? Funnily enough, we all had chips - of various varieties. Could it possibly be because of the price of the burgers..? Lucky I got anything, considering the trouble the card reader had with my card.. the first time tonight that the tech let us down!

It was a teensy bit loud for conversation - but it was a very good night, and it's great to have a group whose main focus is socialising, and that I know people from, and actually want to socialise with! (Not to mention, they let me rabbit on about U2 for ages..) Yes, looking forward to more events from this group..

On the way out, we spied something we hadn't spied on the way in:

Well, I never knew there was an upside-down house here! Crikey, must go sometime. Anyway, we parted, and I wended my way home - switching lines at Baker Street. Unfortunately, I accidentally got on the Bakerloo - which was stifling! Rode that all the way to Waterloo, where I could switch to the Jubilee, which was what I'd wanted in the first place. Passed a cheeky mouse en route. And wow, if I thought the aircon on the Circle Line was good, it ain't nothing to the Jubilee Line, where I had a lovely blast of cold air directed right at the base of my neck. Pity I only had two stops.. but the night air was lovely and cool, walking the last bit.

Tomorrow, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for The Shatter Box, at the Lion and Unicorn. Where I can be reasonably assured of getting food.

On Saturday, back with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners - this walk is Barnet- Royalty, Boozers & a Civil War . Up around his area! Assuming it's not cancelled due to the extreme heat - he already has some drop-outs, apparently! Well, if it's running, I'll brave it. Wonder whether lunch afterwards will encompass the Ireland-Romania match..?!

On Sunday, I booked with Cultureseekers - it's Open House, and they're off to the London Scottish House and the Banqueting House.  However, I then got a message from the organiser, encouraging me to become a "full member" - pay a yearly fee, and you can waive the fee for paid events throughout the year. Fair enough - except, frankly, there are groups I would pay to be with, and this is not one of them. I never go to paid events with them. So, I think I might become a shadow member of this group, as I sometimes do with others - I know he's not asked me to pay for this event specifically, but I'm tired of the hard sell, and there is nothing stopping me going to these venues on my own - at my own pace. Not a terribly sociable group, anyway.

On Monday, I'm off to The Effect at the National.

Then - for the first time in a long time - there's a run of Meetup events - and specifically, UITCS! On Tuesday, back with them to see Russell Howard for the last night of his run at the Palladium - terrible trouble finding a decent seat in the Grand Circle, which was all that was left!

On Wednesday, I was to be back with Laurence and the 45+s for The Long and Winding Road, a walk about, of course, The Beatles! Personal commitments, however, have meant he's postponed it. So now I'm going with UITCS to It's Headed Straight Towards Us! (a comedy about a volcano), at Park Theatre.

Next Thursday, back with them for Anthropology, at Hampstead Theatre. Cheap tickets from TodayTix. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.

The next two days are with UITCS again - on the 18th, it's Crazy for You, at the Gillian Lynne Theatre.

On the 19th, it's Octopolis, at Hampstead Theatre again!

And on the 20th, I'm with CT for a classical concert - a Chamber Recital at St. Mark's, Hamilton Terrace. Regular tickets from TicketSource.